A productive Tuesday

I feel good. I knew that I would. All the grass has now been cut. The first cut of the year is always the most difficult. First there's the clearing of debris from the yard, including removing any mole hills that came up over winter (I used the dirt to fill in some ruts along the road). Then there's the thick fresh growth that, in many places, got to well over six inches tall. And that fresh grass is full of moisture, not easy to cut in a single pass.

Dew drops on young rose leaves.

But, before I do any cutting, I have to get the mower itself ready for work. That means draining out the motor oil from last year and adding new oil. Then the blade needs to be sharpened. I tried doing it myself, but I didn't do a very good job of it, so I decided to get a new one (this will be the blade's sixth season). Unfortunately, the hardware store didn't have the blade I need. They recommended a nearby mechanic, but he didn't have one, either. He did ask why I wanted to replace the blade. I showed him my botched sharpening job and he said he could sharpen it. He did a superb job; the edge looks like new. The right tools and know-how make all the difference.

So my chore for today is the deck. I plan to take advantage of the relatively warm day we're expecting to use the power washer on it.